Universal sled brake



y 30, 193 H. F. HEFFNER ET AL 2 160,502

UNIVERSAL SLED BRAKE Filed Jan. 19, 1937 Lav/Ba,

Patented May. 30, 1939 -*.,.Uuii"so STATES .ATT. oFFw UNIVERSAL SLEDBRAKE Harry F. Hefiner and Lewis L. De Turk, Kearny, N. J.

I Application January 19, 1937, Serial No. 121,272 3 Claims. (01. 188- 8.This invention pertains to a brake and more particularly to a brakeadapted to be used on vehicles such as a sled. The device is adaptable.ioruse as an attachment on sleds of various sizes. I-Ieretofore, brakesof the general nature to which this invention. relates, have beendesigned .for a particular size sled, and to apply one brake on a sledwhich was longer, required many changes in the device per se, therebymaking it w impossible to transfer the brake to sleds of differ- .entlengths.

.Further, theconventional brake was'construct- .ed as an integral partof the sled itself, and

discarding the sled therefore required discarding '15 the brake.

This invention eliminates the above objections in that it may be readilyinstalled or removed, without the use of tools, and furthermore nojdrilling or cutting of metal or wood is required.

v Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a brake which maybe attached to a sled without the use ofv tools.

' A further object is to provide a sled brake which is adaptable for useon sleds of various Astill further objectjis to provide a brake of moreefficient and economical construction, being universal in itsapplication to sleds, of various dimensions, more particularly to sledsof various 3O lengths.

A more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be had from thedrawing in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the invention, partly broken away.

35 Figure 2 is an exploded view in perspective of one of the braceclamps.

Figure 3 is a front View, partly broken away, showing the handle asconnected to a brace clamp.

Figure 4 is a top view of the brake shoe and its supporting plate inrelation to the sled.

Figure 5 is a detail view showing the mounting of the brake shoe inrelation to the shoe carrying member.

45 Referring to the drawing, in particular to Figure 1, 5 is a handle orhorizontal lever pivoted at both sides by screw members 6, which membersare threadedly secured to the brace clamps generally indicated by thenumeral 1. The lower 50 ends of the handle 5 are provided with holeswhich receive a rod 8 extending from the outside of one handlesprojecting portions, to the outside of the other handle projection. Anyconvenient manner of preventing the rod from lat- 55 eral movement maybe provided, but is here shown as cotter pins 9 inserted in rod 8. Therod is permitted to be rotated in its bearings to prevent undue frictionwhen the handle 5 is moved to actuate the brake shoe.

Figure 2 shows the brace clamp I having a lower portion it which has acut out section I5, to fit on the sled brace I2, showndotted in Fig. l.A cap H is adapted to cover the lower portion it! and by utilization ofa screw I3 and a wingnut M, the said clamp is aflixed to the sled braceto hold the handle 5 securely against any substantial lateral movement.The lower portion on said clamp has a semicircular cut out section at H,to permit the clamps to fit properly around a bolt head (shown dotted)in the event one is present in the particular sled construction to whichthis invention may be applied.

It will be noted that the cut out section I5 of part I9 is not outexactly at right angles to the length of the lower portion of the clamp,but obliquely as shown at I6-I 6, to more definitely fit on, and clampto the arcuate sled brace I2. The square hole 18 fits the squareshoulder of the bolt I3, thereby assisting to tighten the wing nut I lsecurely.

. Figure 3 shows the vertical portion of the handle 5 in part, inrelation to the right hand side brace clamp, with the pivot 6 having around shoulder I9, said pivot being screwed securely into the lowerportion of clamp I, while the shoulder I9 provides pivoted movement ofthe handle 5 on the pivot pin 6. The brace clamps, it will be noted, aresimilar in function, but are adapted for use on the opposite sides ofthe sled, each being substantially a mirror image of the other. Auniversal clamp plate 20 used primarily to I hold the brake shoe 2I, hasa groove 22, which fits over a cross piece of the sled 23, shown dottedin Figure 4. The clamp plate has slots therein which receive bolts suchas 25, said slots being of sufficient length to permit the clamp to befitted on sleds utilizing center strips 26 of various width. The headsof the bolts 25 are of sufficient diameter to overlap and engage theadjacent sled strips 2l2l, the threaded ends of said bolts protrudingthrough the under side of the plate 29, through the elongated slots 24.Wing-nuts 25a threaded on bolts 25 securely clamp on the plate againstthe sled strips 2fi-212'l and over the cross-piece 23, therebypreventing lateral or longitudinal movement of said plate.

A projection 28 on the shoe carrying member 20, has a slot 29, whichreceives one end of the shoe 2|. The opposite end of the shoe has aserrated edge 2!, which contacts and engages,

the ice or snow, the serrated edge being a greater distance from itsfulcrum at point A than at point B, and of such relation as to thedistance to the ground from the fulcrum 3|], that the rear portion ofthe sled runners may be raised from contact with the surface of the snowor ice by sufficient rotation of shoe member 2|. A spring 31 is mountedbetween the projection 28 of the shoe Carrying member 20 and the brakeshoe member 2| and is adapted to act upon the brake shoe member 2| sothat the same moves under tension of the spring when the brake isapplied. The spring 3| is of sufficient strength to retract the shoe andrestore it to normal position when the brake handle is released afterapplication.

Two tie rods 32 and 33 are employed to connect the rod 8 to the shoe 2|.One end of the tie rod 33 is securely fastened to the middle of the rod8, while one end of the tie rod 32 is twisted at 34 to change the flatside from a horizontal to a vertical position, enabling the extreme endof said rod to fit into a slot 35, shown dotted; Said tie rod end has ahole therein, to conform in size to holes 36 in the shoe, and said holesin the slotted portion of the shoe and tie rod are adapted to receive arotatable pin 31, which pin is secured against substantial lateralmovement by cotter pins 38. The tie-rods 32 and 33 have holes equallyand uniformly spaced along their lengths to permit the lengthening orshortening of the tierod connection, permitting adjustment on sleds ofvarious lengths, said tie rods being secured together by bolts havingsquare shoulders to fit in the upper tie rod holes, and said bolts beingheld in place by wing-nuts.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the present invention canbe adjusted for various sleds in commercial use and readily attached ordetached therefrom without departing from the spirit of the invention. v

In operation, when the handle 5 is moved in the direction of the arrow,the leverage between the fulcrum 6 and bar 8 will cause the tie rods 32and 33 to move forward rotating the shoe 2| about pivot 30 and bringingthe brake shoe into forcible contact with the snow or ice surface. Whenthe handle 5 is released the spring 3| will cause restoration of thehandle and brake shoe, to their respective normal positions.

Certain specific detailed features of the invention have been herein setforth, but the invention is not limited thereto, as changes andalterations may be and may become apparent to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a braking device for a sled, a pair of clamps, means for securingsaid clamps to a sled member, a handle having two projecting arms, saidarms beingmovably mounted on said clamps, a pivotal bar mounted in saidprojecting arms, a shoe carrying member having elongated slots thereinfor adjustably securing said carrying member to a sled, a brake shoemovably connected to said carrying member, resilient means for holdingsaid shoe in a retracted position, and an adjustable member connectingsaid pivotal bar to said shoe.

2. An attachable braking member having two clamps, each comprising alower portion and a cap member, means for rigidljy securing said clampson a sled member, a handle pivotally mounted on said clamps, a brakeshoe having a serrated edge for surface contact, a carrying member,means for securing said shoe to said carrying member, and an adjustableoperating member, connected intermediate said shoe and.

said handle.

3. An attachable braking device comprising a pair of clamps, a portionof each clamp having a groove conforming to the general shape of a sledmember to which said clamp is secured, a handle movablymounted on saidclamps, a brake shoe carrying member, and a brake shoe mounted thereon,and an adjustable member operatively connecting said shoe and saidhandle.

HARRY F. HEFFNER. LEWIS L. DE TURK.

